


We Are Not Merry Men

by michellemagly



Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Evfra is basically a broody Robin Hood, Ey, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Paaran is Maid Meridian, Robin Hood AU, The Archon is the sheriff of nottingham, Writer Duel of Feels, exchange fic, swashbuckling, tw choking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-19
Updated: 2018-09-19
Packaged: 2019-07-14 05:11:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16033655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/michellemagly/pseuds/michellemagly
Summary: Life in Aya had been peaceful. After the crusades, Evfra and Jaal along with the others came home, and Paaran had lived in hope that the fighting was finally done. Her hopes shatter when the Archon arrives at Aya along with a battalion of kett to enforce new taxation.





	We Are Not Merry Men

**Author's Note:**

  * For [WriterSine](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WriterSine/gifts).



> For WriterSine, as part of our second duel of feels. I always love these little challenges we give to each other :) Thank you for being such an amazing writing buddy.

The kett marched into the streets of Aya, front facing and refusing to meet the gaze of any of the angaran citizens that wandered out into the streets. Their plate armor gleamed in the afternoon sun and the swords at their sides hung deathly still in their sheaths. Even without reaching hands toward them, the kett managed to make those swords feel like a threat.

Their commander stepped forward, a kett elegantly dressed with a circlet and a blood red cape, the color of the royal guard. Paaran Shie, Governor of Aya, marched down the hill from the town hall to greet them. As she approached, she turned to her attendant and whispered, “Let me do the talking.”

Her attendant nodded, but whispered back, “Just hope that Evfra doesn’t show up.”

Paraan shook her head and looked back to the wall of kett bisecting their town. She stopped in front of the leader and nodded her head. “Good afternoon.”

The kett frowned down at her. “Greetings,” he hissed. 

“What is a platoon of the king’s finest doing in our humble town, might I ask?”

“I am Archon, Sheriff Archon.” Archon stepped around her and started walking up toward the town hall. “As the gateway to Meridian, this community resides on an important new trade route the prince wishes to establish. I will take over all administrative and judicial matters for the town. If you would be so kind as to show me to the...city center, we can begin.” He eyed the town hall in the distance with a certain measure of disdain.

Paaran opened her mouth to speak and could not find words, then she cleared her throat and tried again. She followed Archon up the hill. “I am afraid there is a misunderstanding, Sheriff Archon. I am the governor of Aya. If the prince wishes to establish a trade route through Meridian, would you not be better situated further up the highway?”

Archon scowled at her and kept walking. “There is no mistake. The prince has designated we remain here primarily to ensure the trade from Meridian to the heart of the kingdom remain uninterrupted.”

“But I don’t understand. If you and your troops are to take over the town hall-”

“And the local garrison,” he interrupted.

Paaran winced. Evfra would definitely not be happy. “If you and your troops are to take up residence in those spaces, then where shall myself and my staff go? Where will our local militia go?”

Sheriff Archon stopped and turned back to her. He smiled, though the sight made Paaran feel sick. “Meridian is just up the highway, like you said.” His dismissive tone suggested there was no room to argue.

Paaran turned and looked back at the wall of troops. There were at least thirty of them, too many to fight. She looked back at Archon. “You’ll need me and my staff to keep the citizens in line,” she said.

Archon stopped and turned to her. “Are you threatening me?” he asked.

“No, I…” She paused, considering her words carefully. “I just don’t wish for the prince to frown upon your service. Surely he will look poorly upon any incidents.”

Sheriff Archon snarled. “As if I cannot handle one small village.”

In the distance, Paaran heard the slamming of a door and shouting. She groaned, recognizing the voice before she turned to see Evfra de Tershaav pushing past the crowds and running alongside the column of troops. His broad angaran frame threatened to dwarf all the kett in their armor, though the hunter’s bow strapped across his chest would do little to them. “What in the name of the Moshae are they doing on our land?” he shouted. Thankfully, none of the soldiers responded. “Who is that man?” he pointed at Sheriff Archon.

Paraan saw him nod at his troops. “No!” she said quickly, reaching a hand out to caution Evfra.

Three kett jumped on him, wrangling him back and holding him by the arms and shoulders. Paraan shook her head. “Sheriff Archon, please forgive Evfra. He is a hotheaded fool.”

“Is this the incident you were so worried about?” Archon asked. He put a hand on his chin, looking down at Evfra, who thankfully did not struggle against the kett but still shouted questions.

“Evfra is the head of our militia. He will step aside, I am sure, if you let me explain the situation to him.”

Sheriff Archon remained quiet for a moment. Then he looked at Paaran and said, “I have a better idea.” He strolled down the hill and Paaran followed. He stopped short of Evfra and sneered down at him. “You can cease your incessant shouting.”

Paaran saw Evfra glance over at her. She nodded and he quieted.

“How kind of you to show some civility,” Sheriff Archon drawled. “Now, listen carefully, because I do not wish to repeat myself. I am Sheriff Archon, and by order of the prince I am stationed in the town of Aya henceforth with my garrison of troops to monitor the tax and trade route from Meridian to the heart of the kingdom. Our ruler demands more resources to fuel the war effort. We no longer require the services of you or your militia, so you may find somewhere else to settle.”

“What!” Evfra yanked against the men holding him. “You can’t do this!”

Sheriff Archon reached into his robes and pulled out a roll of paper. He unfurled it, and Paaran saw the official royal seal stamped on the bottom. “I can, and I will. If you and your troops do not leave, we will have no choice but to respond with violence.”

Evfra snarled much like Sheriff Archon had earlier. He looked the paper over, looked at Archon, then met Paaran’s gaze again. “Let’s go,” he said.

“I am sorry, but you misunderstood me,” Sheriff Archon said. “I am exiling you from the town of Aya, Evfra. Paaran will be staying here to assist with administrative affairs. The next time you are seen in proximity of me, I will have you arrested and hanged for treason.”

“All he did was shout,” Paaran said. She took a step toward Evfra but he widened his eyes and tilted his head back as if to say,  _ Don’t push it _ . “He won’t cause any further harm. Please let him stay.”

Sheriff Archon shook his head. “No, I know a troublesome type when I see one.” He waved his hand and the soldiers let him go. “Leave now, Evfra. Lest I lock you up for treason.”

Evfra stood with clenched fists. He breathed through his nose in short, angry gasps that made Paaran fear he would do something stupid. Finally, he spared one last glance at Paaran and said, “Goodbye,” before turning and walking away from the center of town.

“Wait!” someone called from the crowd of onlookers. Paaran saw Jaal ama Darav pushing his way through people, his own hunting bow still strapped to his chest and a quiver of arrows on his thigh. “Evfra, I’m coming with you.” Jaal, once called  _ Little Jaal _ as a child for his scrawny frame and many older siblings, now called it affectionately despite his broad shoulders and intimidating stature, brought himself up to full height, glared briefly at Sheriff Archon, and then placed a hand on Evfra’s shoulder.

Together, the two of them walked out of town.

Sheriff Archon snorted. “Good riddance.”

Paaran looked out at the crowds of Aya’s citizens. Some looked angry. Others were clearly frightened. She glanced back in the direction Evfra and Jaal had gone, and a large part of her wished deeply she had gone with them.

xxx

A week later, Paraan took a walk out of town. She glanced over her shoulder only once, just to make sure none of the kett followed her out in the the pastures. As soon as she slipped into the woods, they would not be able to track her.

She made her way along the route that Evfra had described in his letter. It relied heavily on clues from their childhood and spoke in layered, roundabout ways that would frustrate or bore anyone intercepting it. She had smiled at his ingenuity when she first read it.

Perhaps a half hour later, Paraan stepped into a clearing and waited. She knew this was the spot where Evfra would meet her. “You were not followed,” someone said from the treeline.

Paraan frowned. The voice was angaran but it did not belong to Evfra. “I was not,” she replied.

Jaal stepped out from the trees. “You’re good, Paraan.”

She smiled. ”Little Jaal, don’t you remember who taught you the paths through these woods?”

“Yourself and Evfra, though that was many years ago and if I remember correctly my mother scolded me for an hour the first time we came back covered in mud and twigs.”

Paraan chuckled. She had not laughed since Sheriff Archon’s occupation. “But at least the Moshae found it amusing.” She paused. “And how have you taken to the forest, Little Jaal?”

He smiled back at her. “I’ll show you.” Jaal reached a hand into his pocket and pulled out a blindfold. “Evfra insisted on this, for your protection and our own.”

Paraan nodded and took the blindfold from him. She tied it herself, then waited for Jaal to lead her out of the clearing. She felt a large hand on her arm, guiding her forward, and she took hesitant steps over the uneven terrain. He led her through many different twists and turns. They walked for perhaps another fifteen minutes, long enough to disorient her so no amount of torture would reveal the location of Evfra’s new hideout.

When Jaal stopped her and let her remove the blindfold, she blinked against the afternoon light filtering in through the forest canopy and stared.  _ Evfra certainly worked quickly _ . A rough wooden palisade had already been constructed, backing into a tall, stone cliffside. The position was naturally defensible, tucked away in the shadow of a mountain. “Well, Little Jaal, what is all this about?”

Jaal chuckled and took the blindfold back from her. “Evfra has plans. I am sure he would love to share them with you.” They crossed the threshold into the encampment. Two angaran hunters stood by, one Paraan recognized from Aya, another from Meridian.

“How many people have you recruited?” she asked, looking around at the different angaran at work. The encampment was small with only three huts, but they had worked quickly to establish a bowyer. One angaran woman sat fletching arrows at a crude workbench.

“Seven from the surrounding towns. The prince’s soldiers have shown up all over the countryside. They’re enforcing new tax regulations effective immediately. Some just walked out. Said they could not afford the new burden. Evfra offered them a place here rather than try their luck alone in the wilderness.”

“He’s a talented organizer,” Paraan said, noting that someone had already managed to set up a smokehouse for fish and game. “You have everything you need here.”

Jaal shook his head. “No, not quite.”

“What do you mean?” Paraan asked. They walked further into the camp, toward the cliffside.

“I’ll let Evfra explain it,” Jaal said. He nodded toward one end of the encampment.

Paraan stared. Evfra stood with his back to them, shirtless and with a quiver of arrows strapped to his belt, loose pants hanging onto his hips. He drew an arrow with blue fletching from the quiver and knocked it against his bow, pulling the drawstring back in a smooth motion. She watched the muscles in his arms and back bunch tightly, all part of the same clockwork movement. He rested the fletching against his cheek for a moment, sighted his shot, then release, the arrow sailing with a faint whistle into a large tree core that had been stood on end and then leaned against the cliffside. Several arrows dotted the centermost rings.

“Evfra!” Jaal called out, walking forward. He turned and caught sight of them. Paraan imagined for just a moment his lips pulled into something like a smile.

“You deciphered the note, good,” he said, setting down his bow. He reached for his roffjin and pulled it over his head, covering the hard-lined muscle of his chest. “I need to talk to you,” he nodded in the direction of the cliffside, “If you’re willing.”

“I’m sure I can handle myself without Little Jaal around,” Paraan said. She offered Jaal a wry smile before turning back to Evfra. “Lead the way.”

They walked to the back of the camp and along the cliffside. Paraan reached a hand out and ran her fingers over the cold stone surface. “You’re up to something,” she said, then removed her hand from the stone.

Evfra hummed. “When am I ever not?”

“But now you’re up to something that you need my help for.” Paraan glanced at him to see Evfra firmly avoiding her gaze. “And you’re up to something illegal.”

“What the prince and that sheriff are doing is illegal,” Evfra growled. His fists clenched at his sides for a brief moment. “And you know it.”

They kept walking. The silence hung between them like a taut rope. Paraan finally gave it a little slack. “So what do you need?”

“Tax collectors will begin travelling the roads soon. I want their routes.”

“Evfra, that’s stealing.”

“What they’re proposing is stealing from us. I won’t have it.”

Paraan stopped walking and crossed her arms. “And just what do you intend to do with your ill-gotten gains, hmm? Build an empire out here?”

Evfra frowned. “I will redistribute it back to the people.”

“So the sheriff can take it from them again? So he can arrest  _ them _ for stealing it?”

Evfra shook his head. “He can’t arrest every citizen, not if all of them are receiving the money, and I’ll make myself the villain. He won’t be concerned with other citizens when there is an infamous bandit living out in the woods somewhere.”

Paraan groaned. “Evfra, you’re painting a target on yourself and everyone who is helping you. The sheriff will have you killed if you start robbing tax collectors.”

“So what else would you have us do?” Evfra asked, his voice a notch louder than usual. “Let them bleed us dry, hm?”

Paraan looked away from him. She had not seen Evfra act this way since he had come home from the crusades, and that had been years ago.

Before Sheriff Archon had shown up, Evfra had been a bright point in her days, a soft-hearted hunter who played at being cold and stiff, unable to entirely shake the instincts he had picked up while in service to the king. At first, it seemed like Evfra might just keep to the woods entirely, but he showed up at the governor’s building one winter with a fine fur coat, thick and black with shining brass buttons at the hood. He handed it to Paraan without saying anything, and she had taken it, crushing the plush fur under her fingers with a soft cry. “It’s gorgeous,” she had said, and he had merely shrugged.

From then on, he would always show up to the governor's building with small gifts for the workers there. But each winter, Evfra had made sure to stun Paraan with a new article of fur clothing, always finely stitched and warm enough to keep the harshest winter winds at bay. One year, he had given her boots, and most recently he had made her a pair of gloves. There had been a promise of some kind in those gifts, something that had seemed to say,  _ Just wait a bit longer. _

Standing before her now, he looked tense. His muscles had coiled tightly, like he was still aiming a bow. If she dared touch him, he might arch his back and spit at her like some feral beast, just like he had been all those years ago. But that was what Evfra did when he felt threatened. He pushed people away. He struck out first. Paraan shook her head. “I’ll see what I can do. Give me at least a week.”

Evfra snorted. “Very well.” He turned and began walking back toward the camp, then stopped. “If you would like, you are welcome to stay for dinner.”

Paraan uncrossed her arms and followed him. She smiled and Evfra merely scowled down at her. “It is good to see you’ve retained some manners living out here.” She offered him her arm, and he took it, though he walked in that same stiff, coiled-too-tight manner. Paraan sighed. Evfra did not need another war. Neither of them did.

xxx

Dinner had been enjoyable, despite lacking real tables and chairs. Or napkins. Or a full array of cutlery. The people laughed at least, and Jaal had been as pleasant and kind as ever. It made her heart ache to think of going back to the town and having to work under the scrutinous eye of Sheriff Archon day in and day out, but when the time came, Paraan allowed Evfra to blindfold her and lead her back through the woods and to the clearing where she had met Jaal earlier that day.

Evfra pulled off the blindfold and looked down at her with his same old serious frown.

“Thank you,” Paraan said, looking around at the clearing. “I was touched that you chose this as our meeting spot.”

Evfra looked off to the side. “It was something we both knew. A strategic choice.”

“Still, I am happy you remember it.”

They both stood there, Evfra perhaps waiting for her to speak more, but Paraan was waiting to see if he would give in and say something else. He did not.

“I’ll come to this spot next week, and hopefully I’ll have something useful for you. I can’t promise it will be information on the tax collectors, but I’ll help somehow.”

Evfra nodded. “I’ll have someone look for you.” He turned and walked away. Paraan watched him recede into the forest for as long as she dared, then turned and made her way back to town. By the time she made it back to the pastures, the sun was nearly set and silhouetted figures walked to their homes.

Paraan did not go to bed right away. Instead, she shut herself in the main office and began looking over the reports they had received that week. None of the information in these documents was critical to Sheriff Archon’s arrival, and Paraan suspected he intercepted anything that might contain sensitive information like that.

She jumped when the door to the room banged open, dropping the papers so they scattered all over the floor. Paraan bent over and began picking them up quickly, trying to ignore the increasingly familiar click of boots against the flagstone floor. She gathered the pile and straightened herself. Archon stood on the other end of the room, staring at her.

“I did not expect to find you here this late,” he said.

“Sorry, Sheriff. I took a walk earlier today and spent too long away from my duties. I wanted to finish a few things for the day.” She set the reports down in their intended spot, a neatly straightened stack.

Sheriff Archon’s gaze flitted to the paper. “Was there something I could assist you in finding?”

Paraan shook her head. “No, I think that will be all. There was less work to do than I thought. I suppose there will be more, though, when the first caravans arrive from Meridian.”

“There might be.” Archon crossed over to the other side of the desk and picked up the stack of papers. He towered over her. “Seeing as  _ governor _ no longer suits your title, the people have proposed changing your status to  _ Maid Meridian _ .”

Paraan paused at the title. It had come from another angaran, but Archon would not know the significance of the name, or perhaps not even understand it was an endearment, not an insult. The locals had taken to whispering it and curtseying to her in a mocking tone ever since Sheriff Archon had suggested sarcastically that they all pack up and relocate to Meridian. “Very well.” She took two steps back from Archon, shifting around to the front of the desk. “If you would excuse me…” She left the sentence unfinished.

Sheriff Archon inclined his head. “You are excused.”

Paraan nodded and backed out of the room, shutting the door with a soft click and leaving the building. When she had been governor, she kept sleeping quarters in the building’s second floor, but since the platoon had arrived, she had taken over the spare room in her mother’s house. She walked back to the small home and told her mother about what Evfra and Jaal had gotten up to, though with sparing detail to preserve some sense of secrecy. Other townsfolk came over and packed themselves into the kitchen, trading gossip and stories about what the kett soldiers had been up to. When Paraan shared her new title with them, everyone in the home howled with laughter.

“Does he think it’s an insult?” one of the angaran asked. “It just proves they don’t care about any of us. They’d squash us all if they could.”

Paraan nodded but said nothing more. The rest of them chattered enough about Sheriff Archon’s menacing ways. She did not need to contribute to the town’s mounting concern. As much as she wanted to believe that Archon was something that they could simply wait out like a bad storm, his very presence was beginning to feel more like iron bars and less like a billowing thundercloud.

xxx

Four days later, everyone in town called Paraan  _ Maid Meridian _ . Well, everyone aside from the Moshae. The kett also collected taxes for the first time. It was a sharp increase from the normal amount. Too sharp, just like Evfra had warned against. Paraan pressed her lips into a thin line and watched the soldiers come down from Meridian, noted the road they traveled, and watched them pick up taxes from the sheriff before starting off on the road leading southwest out of town. When Paraan went into the governor’s office that day, she found a document with an official seal laying on one of the kett’s desk. She looked around, then scooped up the papers.

The seal had already been broken, so she flipped through the pages quickly. It was the official tax collection routes. Paraan grimaced, but made note of the dates and general paths collectors would take.

The information would be just too easy to pass on to Evfra.  _ But he’ll get himself killed with it _ . Paraan committed it to memory anyways, just in case. Later that day, she worked at a desk in the governor’s office. A kett soldier had clanked over to her, dropped a pile of papers on her desk, and had hissed, “Add these up. Report whoever underpaid to the sheriff.”

Paraan sifted through the tax records with a frown. Just at a glance, she could see that several records would have to be marked “underpaid.”  _ And who knows what he’ll do to them if they can’t keep up this amount. _ They would not be able to, Paraan could already tell. The tax rate would bleed the town dry in a matter of months.  _ Surely the king’s war needs soldiers rather than a treasury _ .

But the king was fighting overseas, leaving his far less popular brother, the crown prince, to manage the kingdom of Heleus. No one knew when he would return, but Paraan had heard whispers that it would be before the middle of next winter. She looked up and glanced out a window. Summer had only just started.  _ Can the people of Aya hold out that long? _ With a sigh, she began calculating what the kett had asked for. When she had the report complete, she took the documents to Sheriff Archon’s office and knocked.

“Enter,” he growled. Paraan opened the door and stepped inside. Sheriff Archon glanced up from his own papers, something that bore the royal seal in red wax. “Yes?”

Paraan handed him the stack of papers along with a note where the totals and truant taxpayers had been tallied up. “You requested this?”

He took the papers from her and looked over the top report quickly. “Thank you,” he said, then glanced back to his own papers. Paraan stood there a moment, wondering what could captivate him so much. “You may leave.”

Paraan took the hint and walked out of the office, making sure  to shut the door on her way out. She walked back to her desk, sat down, and pressed her hands to her face.  _ What have I just done? _

Later that night, when people came by to visit her and her mother, they all had the same concern, “How are we going to eat, Paraan? They left us with nothing.”

So when Paraan went to meet with Evfra for the second time, she resolved to pass along the information. He was waiting for her this time, stalked out of the tree line like some predatory creature. “Good afternoon,” he said, and it felt so out of place coming from him that Paraan almost laughed.

“Good afternoon,” she replied.

He nodded as if they had just finished some secret exchange, a password, and then pulled the blindfold from his trouser pocket. “I believe you know how this goes.” Paraan allowed him to blindfold her and then lead the way. His hand stayed on her shoulder, gently guiding her every movement with small presses in whatever direction they needed to go. “How is Aya?” he eventually asked.

“Sheriff Archon collected taxes.”

Evfra made a noise in the back of his throat. Almost a growl. “So I heard.”

“People are afraid.”

“Some of them came to us.” Paraan felt her foot snag on a tree root and Evfra brought his other hand up to steady her. “Apologies,” he said. “We have not been able to make a path at all. We don’t want to make it easier for them to find us.”

Paraan nodded as she steadied herself. Evfra still gripped both her shoulders, even after she was in no danger of tripping. Her face felt a little warmer, suddenly. She cleared her throat, trying to push down the fluttering in her own stomach. “I understand.”

When Evfra finally took the blindfold off, Paraan had to blink several times to make sure she was seeing things correctly. In just a week, the small camp had transformed into what looked like the start of a village. More structures had been erected, the fence fortified, and at least twenty people milled around, all of them busy at work. “Evfra, what is all this?” She glanced back at him to see him looking at the people and smiling.

He gestured with a sweep of his hand. “We found some of them running away from the kett and took them in. A few others refused to pay and came looking for sanctuary with us.” He glanced down at Paraan and his smile receded. “It’s not enough, though. We simply cannot keep relocating people here, away from Sheriff Archon and his troops.”

Paraan nodded. “You’re right, Evfra.”

He had already drawn breath probably to argue, but then halted. He recovered quickly, asking, “What made you see it?”

Paraan shrugged and began walking toward the village. Evfra caught up and walked alongside her. “People are afraid they will starve...and freeze to death when winter comes.” The list of anxieties people had unloaded on her the last few days had built up. “I have the information you requested, and I’m going to give it to you.”

“I-you will?”

Paraan rounded on him, pressing a finger against his chest. “Yes, but you’re going to promise me that you won’t get anyone killed.”

“Never, I-”

“Not even the kett.”

Evfra paused, his mouth open and eyes searching Paraan’s face. A moment later, he sighed and said, “Very well.”

xxx

Paraan waited anxiously for news to arrive of Evfra’s success...or failure. The next time taxes were collected, she had to force herself not to pace, not to act as if her entire world was in a knot of worry, knowing nothing about what Evfra and the others were doing, if they were safe.  _ What was I thinking giving him that information? It is not just his life at risk. Little Jaal’s mother will never forgive me if he gets hurt _ .

News did not arrive until well into the evening.

Two kett soldiers thundered down the hallway to Sheriff Archon’s office. They pushed the door open and Paraan heard them shouting over one another.

“Sheriff, Sir, it’s gone!”

“-nothing we could do, we were outnumbered to-”

“-five angaran-” 

The voices quieted to murmurs, and then Sheriff Archon roared in a rage that chilled Paraan to the bone. She flinched at the sound of wood cracking against itself.  _ Did he throw a chair? _ Her heart rate spiked when footsteps pounded on the floor in her direction. She turned her head down, trying desperately to look busy when Archon came over and slammed his fists onto her desk.

“Where is he?” he yelled.

Paraan set down the quill she had been writing with. The last line of drying ink had a few jagged jolts in it. “Who are you talking about, Sheriff?”

“Look at me!”

Slowly, she turned her gaze up to meet his.

“Where is that snake, Evfra?” Archon growled.

Paraan shook her head. “I don’t know.”

One of the kett stepped forward. “Sir, we never saw who it was. They were all hooded-”

Archon’s face twisted in anger. “It had to have been him!” He pounded a fist on the desk again and for a moment, Paraan feared he might reach out and smack her, but the seconds passed and the ugly sneer simmered down to its usual scowl. He drew in a deep breath and exhaled through his nostrils in a huff. He unclenched his fists and ran a hand over the probably bruised knuckles he had battered the table with. “You help no one by protecting him.”

“I am protecting no one,” Paraan replied. She waited for Sheriff Archon to say more, to accuse her of treason, to throw more furniture. Instead, he turned away and stalked back to his office. Paraan released a sigh and picked up her quill again. Her hands were shaking.

xxx

The money got back into the hands of the townsfolk somehow. They did their best not to let Sheriff Archon know, but word eventually got out, and he seethed with rage in his office again. Paraan waited to see what retaliatory action he might take, but nothing happened. Archon dispatched patrols into the woods, but none of them found anything. Paraan suspected that Evfra and Little Jaal worked tirelessly to lead them astray, because the soldiers would always come back whispering stories about the forest, about great lumbering beasts that hid there.

Tax collection day came again, and Evfra struck again, successfully robbing the kett patrols blind. Sheriff Archon only stewed more and more in his anger. The money ended up back with the people of Aya. Archon started hanging “wanted” posters everywhere. The reward was so steep, Paraan worried that some of the hungrier angaran might just take him up on it.

Because of this fear, she waited for weeks before she went to Evfra again. All the while, he and his band of angaran rebels continued to poke ceaselessly at the kett. He did not send her letters anymore, but she went to the same clearing they had met at the previous two times, sat down, and waited.

A few hours later, Evfra emerged from the trees. “What are you doing out here?” he asked.

Paraan smiled and got to her feet. Her joints ached from sitting around in the forest all day, but it was the only thing she could think to do. “Waiting for you.” She looked him over, noticing his ever-present hunting bow slung over his chest and quiver full of arrows with their same blue fletching strapped to his belt. His clothes were worn, patchwork, and he wore an animal fur cloak with a hood drawn over his head. “You look like some great beast,” she said, nodding to the fur cloak.

Evfra smiled. “It scares off the kett.”

Paraan shook her head. “Of course it does.”

When they made it back to Evfra’s camp, Paraan was not shocked to see it had grown even more to look the part of a village. She recognized some of the people who had gone missing from Aya. Others had traveled down from Meridian or other towns. What startled her most about coming back was how freeing it felt. For the first time in weeks she felt as though she could breathe easy again. Archon and his kett were more of a stifling presence than she realized.

She and Evfra walked along a small creek that led away from the village, deeper into the forest. She had not needed to ask if they could go somewhere private. They had drifted in that direction naturally. “Have you seen the posters?” she asked.

Evfra nodded. “They are offering a lot.”

“Archon is furious. I am surprised he hasn’t taken more drastic measures to stop you.” It was something Paraan marveled at, but she could still not banish the knot of worry that she felt. Sheriff Archon would do something malicious, she was certain of it. He only needed time. “What are we going to do, Evfra?” She stopped walking and crossed her arms. Next to them, the creek trickled on by, flowing freely to wherever it pleased.  _ If I had any sense, I would follow that creek away and never come back _ . 

“About what?” Evfra stopped as well. He frowned down at her in that familiar, expectant way. He never scowled like Archon. His frowns were full of concern, never hatred. 

“About this?” Paraan gestured aimlessly. “You can’t keep robbing the kett. They will do more than put up a ‘wanted’ poster.”

“I know.”

“So do you have a plan?” Paraan wished he did. She wished it could be something simple, too, like both of them sailing away together, or fleeing north out of Archon’s control, but neither of them could leave behind the people of Aya. The town was her home as much as it felt like a prison those days.

“I need more time. I am going to beseech the king upon his return from the war. He is an honorable man, I am sure this is all the prince’s doing.”

“Evfra, we do not know when the king will be back!” The knot tightened, constricting her chest.

“It will be soon! The kett are in a panic over it. I’ve seen it when they’re out collecting taxes. Why are you so scared, Paraan? What do you think Archon will do?”

“Kill you!” Before she could stop herself, she stepped forward and pulled Evfra into a hug. She pressed her face against her chest, feeling hot tears beginning to roll down her face. “Evra, he’ll kill all of you.”

She waited for him to push her away. Instead, he wrapped his arms around her in turn, pulling her close. “He can certainly try,” Evfra said. He brought a hand up to her head, running it soothingly down the back of her neck and over her hunched shoulders. “I will keep everyone who has come to me safe.” He let out a long sigh. “Do you know what Little Jaal’s mother would do to me if he were injured?”

Paraan laughed against his chest. She hugged him harder, allowing her fingers to dig into the soft fur of his cloak. “I’ve had the same thought.” They stayed unmoving like that for a while. Before the kett had come, Paraan had wondered what holding Evfra would be like. She had wondered if he would ever hold her. On some days in the long winters, it had felt like he had wanted to, but neither of them had made the first move so it never happened.

_ Wait… _ “Evfra.” She pulled away enough to look up at him.

“Hmm?” He tilted his gaze so he could look down at her.

“Why did you go to our clearing today?”

His cheeks darkened and his gaze flicked to the side. “I...try to go there daily. To look for you.”

Paraan wanted to laugh with joy at the notion, but she swallowed the sound, settling for smiling up at him instead. “You come wait for me every day?”

Evfra made that familiar growling noise from the back of his throat again. “Just a passing glance. Always toward the end of the day.”

“That is perhaps the sweetest thing you have ever done.”

Evfra’s gaze snapped back to hers. “What, and the fur clothes were nothing?”

That time, Paraan allowed herself to chuckle, and she brought a hand up to cup his cheek. “But you made clothes for everyone in town.”

Evfra arched a brow at her. “But you are the only one I did not charge for them.”

Paraan shook her head, then stood on tiptoe to meet Evfra’s mouth in a soft kiss. When his lips touched hers, it was like the knot inside her slipped loose. Her body warmed from head to toe, and for the first time in weeks she managed to forget the looming threat of Sheriff Archon. “You silly man,” she said when their lips parted.

Evfra answered with another kiss.

xxx

Paraan went back to Aya reluctantly, and perhaps far later than she should have. She skirted the long way around town back to her mother’s house rather than take the main road. When she stepped inside, she found her mother sitting at the kitchen table, a mug of tea clutched in her hands. She glanced up at Paraan. “You’re back,” she said.

Paraan nodded, trying and failing to fight back a grin. “Sorry to worry you.”

“You went to see Evfra, I take it?”

Paraan blushed. She walked over to the kitchen and took the chair opposite her mother. “I did.”

“My dear, please don’t see him again.”

The words caused Paraan to take a closer look at her mother. She looked fatigued, more so than usual. Her lips were drawn into a tight grimace and her shoulders were bunched together with worry. Her fingers drummed nervously against the side of her mug.

“What happened?” Paraan asked.

“The sheriff came by asking for you.”

“What?” Paraan leaned forward in her seat. “When?”

“Perhaps an hour ago. He apologized, saying he knew this was not your normal work day, but that he wanted to discuss something with you.” Her mother lifted the mug to her lips and took a long sip. “It was unusually polite of him. I don’t trust it.”

Paraan sighed and buried her face in her hands. “I don’t either.”

xxx

The next day, Archon found her at her desk first thing in the morning. Paraan only spared a quick glance at him before busying herself with a report that did not really need to be written. “Maid Meridian,” he said.

Finally, Paraan put down the quill and looked up at him. “Yes?”

“I was hoping to have a word with you.”

She pushed away her stack of papers. “By all means.”

“Privately.”

Paraan thought over her options. If she went with Archon, she would be vulnerable, cut off. If he wanted to torture her for information, this would be his best chance, but he had no guards, just himself.  _ Perhaps I can overpower him _ . But perhaps he wanted something more benign. Maybe he just wanted to ask questions.  _ I could always just run...but where to? _

She stood up. “Alright.”

He led her back to his office, standing aside so she could enter first. He followed and shut the door behind them. “In the past several weeks, I have found Aya to be rather resistant to the prince’s authority.”

Paraan nodded.

Archon began pacing. “I understand there is an adjustment period. Aya has been without proper rule for some time. Since the king’s war, governance has been scarce to come by. Local leaders have stepped up as best they can.” Archon stopped and glanced back at her. “But the war is calming down. We must establish order again if we are to ever maintain our country’s exalted status.”

“How can I help, Sheriff?” Paraan had no idea what he could be playing at. The whole speech sounded surprisingly off-key, and yet threatening all at once.

“I am glad you asked.” He stepped up to her and took her hand. She let it hang limp in his grip. “Paraan Shie, you will marry me, and our union will represent a new era of cooperation among the kett and angaran.”

Whatever she had been expecting, this was not it. Paraan removed her hand from his grip and took a step back. “I beg your pardon?”

“You will marry me before the week’s end. The people here are loyal to you, to Evfra. We will never bring stability to this town while he is left to run wild. It is my hope that our union will encourage cooperation.”

“I won’t do it.” Paraan edged toward the doorway, but what good would it do to  leave the room? Where did she go to get away from this? “As honored as I am, Sheriff, I must decline.” She reached for the door handle.

“Paraan, you misunderstand me.” Archon stepped closer to her. She turned the handle. “I am not requesting this. If we do not wed, I fear provincial instability will spiral out of control. You  _ will _ do this for the good of your people.” His glowering sneer was back.

Paraan’s fingers slipped on the door handle once before gripping it steadily enough to open the door. “I...I don’t know what to say.”

Archon’s sneer turned into a grin. “You need not say anything. Just be honored. You have been chosen for true greatness, Paraan.”

She wanted to vomit. “I...yes, Archon.” She backed out into the hallway. “If you’ll excuse me.” She did not wait for a response before running down the hall and out of the building. She ran all the way back to her mother, where she collapsed into her arms and sobbed until her throat was raw.

xxx

In the middle of the night, after her mother had gone to sleep and her tears had dried, she slipped a cloak on and left out the back door of her mother’s house. She stuck to the shadows, avoiding kett patrols until she was able to slip into the trees and walk freely through the pitch-black forest. The half-moon provided barely enough light, but she navigated her way to the clearing on instinct alone. When she arrived, she paused, waiting to see if Evfra were present.

The minutes passed and he did not come by. She pressed on, moving in the direction she thought camp might be.  _ I know it is by a cliff _ . That gave her enough direction.

She wandered for longer than it normally took to get to Evfra’s hideout, but she moved slowly in the dark, second-guessing her direction with every step. At one point, she had heard a branch snap and had held still for several minutes, taking shallow breaths and waiting to see if some beast would come lumbering forward to devour her.

Then she pressed onward. Minutes later, however, she heard footsteps padding along, accompanied by the gentle crunch of leaves against the forest floor. “Paraan, what are you doing?” It was Evfra’s voice.

“Thank all that is good that I found you,” she sobbed rushing toward the sound of his voice. She caught sight of his silhouette and threw her arms around him. “Evfra, I cannot stay in Aya.” She held him tight, buried her face against his chest like she had done yesterday. He wrapped his arms around her again, and immediately she felt some of her panic ease.

“What happened?” he asked, voice low with a dangerous edge to it.

“He’s going to marry me,” Paraan said in a rush of words. “Archon, that disgusting man, he’s going to make me marry him in the name of bringing stability to Aya.”

“He’s not going to marry anyone,” Evfra growled. His grip around her tightened.

Paraan nodded, inhaling a shaky breath before letting it go. “We need a plan.”

Rough hands were on her before Evfra could reply, yanking her away. She screamed and Evfra shouted as well, a strangled cry that only worsened as two kett soldiers jumped him. Paraan pushed against the kett holding her in place, hands scratching roughly against hands, trying to find some weak point. “Evfra!” she screamed.

“Shut her up!” one of the kett growled.

“Evfr-” Someone delivered a blow to the back of her head, and she felt her body go slack. She sank to her knees as the world spun around her. She heard Evfra struggling against the kett, heard him yelling obscenities at them as they dragged him away, she tried to stand and follow, but nausea overwhelmed her, so she knelt back down on the forest floor. She closed her eyes, just for a moment, hoping that the world would stop spinning.

When she opened them again, she saw a thatched roof and her head was pounding. “Oh,” she groaned, raising a hand to touch the large bump on her head.

“You’re awake?” someone said. She looked to the side. Little Jaal sat next to her. She tried to sit up, but he reached over and placed a hand on her chest, pushing her back down into a straw mattress. “Don’t move yet. Let me get some water.” Little Jaal rose from the ground and walked over to a roughly cobbled table. He grabbed a pitcher and a cup and returned to her side. “Drink.”

Paraan took the cup and sipped slowly. It eased some of the pounding. “How long have I been like this?”

“No more than a few hours.” Jaal glanced over at a window that was no more than a hole in the side of the home. “The sun is starting to rise.”

Paraan took another sip from the cup. “Where is Evfra?”

Jaal’s brow furrowed. “I’m sorry, Paraan, but I was hoping you could tell me.”

Paraan took another sip and thought back. “He and I were in the woods.”

Jaal nodded. “One of our scouts saw you there and ran to fetch him.”

Paraan kept thinking. She remembered embracing him, confessing Archon’s plot, and then…”Little Jaal, the kett have him.” Tears welled up in her eyes. She dropped the cup, letting water slosh everywhere. “Sheriff Archon and the kett have him, all because I led them right to him.”

Jaal leaned forward and took one of her hands in his. “This is truly grim news, but we will get him back, this I promise you.”

Paraan sniffed, tears still rolling down her face. She wiped at them with her free hand. “And how do you propose to do that?”

Jaal hummed and crossed his arm. “We will certainly need to plan, but I suspect Archon will make this too easy for us. And Paraan, I believe we will need to be willing to attack them. The kett will no longer spare any mercy on us.”

Paraan nodded. She knew this had been coming. It was the only course of action left to them. She just wished she could feel the same assuredness that Jaal displayed.

xxx

When she returned to Aya, Archon was more pleased than she had ever seen him. He announced the capture of Evfra to her, though she could tell he knew perfectly well how they had caught him, and that she had been involved. “Consider it a wedding present,” he said, taking her hand in his once again. “Aya’s greatest threat hanged for treason, and then kett and angara united through civil bond.”

Paraan could not bring herself to respond. She merely swallowed against a rising lump in her throat and nodded, then pulled her hand away and went to her desk.

Planning for what to do became all-consuming. Paraan had to think creatively on how to send messages to Little Jaal. The whole time, she wished she could see Evfra, but he had been transported to a prison outside of Aya, somewhere south that was not as aware of Evfra’s infamous deeds. It was clear Archon feared meddling. Little Jaal managed to track his location, which Archon had refused to share with her. This information, coupled with the date Archon had scheduled for his public execution, helped them form some semblance of a plan.

Paraan could not help thinking that they might all end up dead anyways.

The morning of the execution, she, Archon, and many of the townsfolk were escorted south by the kett soldiers. By late afternoon, they arrived at a grand arena several kilometers outside the capital of Havarl. Paraan knew the prince had begun hosting executions here rather than traditional entertainment, but she had not imagined ever going to one.

Archon led her to a box high in the stands. The room had two chairs and a sweeping view of the arena. If she were there to see a play, it would have been spectacular. Instead, Archon stood by her side, silent and seething while a guard stood at the entrance, quietly watching. “Would you like to sit?” he asked. Paraan shook her head. The Archon leaned forward on the guard railing with a scowl.

Angaran and kett spectators alike flooded the stands. People had traveled from all over Heleus to witness the event, it seemed. Evfra’s fame had traveled further than either of them had realized.

When the seats were filled, Paraan heard the boom of double doors crashing open and looked to the arena entrance. Two guards marched Evfra out into the field and to a lone platform on which they had set up the noose. He was led up to the platform to jeering boos from the crowd. Nobles threw rubbish at him, while commoners flung what they could at the guards leading him. Evfra looked calm, his shoulders lowered rather than bunched together. His clothes were filthy and ragged, his hands bound in front. Gone was the prowling beast. The Sheriff had slain him.

Evfra did not push against the guards as they guided him along to the noose. He looked up into the crowd, eyes searching. Paraan inhaled sharply and did not let the breath go. His gaze found hers and he stared. Paraan clutched the railing, fingers scratching against the wood grain. Her heart pounded in her ears and she looked down at him. He inclined his head as they lowered the noose around his neck, never breaking eye contact, not once.

One of the guards unfurled a writ and began reading from it, “Evfra de Tershaav, you stand before this court accused of robbery and conspiring against the crown…” The words were lost in the drone of the crowd’s shouts. Slowly, Evfra’s lips pulled into a smile. Paraan exhaled the breath in a sob.

Archon jerked away from her. “Control yourself,” he growled.

“...and he shall be hanged by the neck until death.” The guard finished reading and folded up the writ. Drummers played a solemn beat. The crowd’s drone rose into a roar.

“Little Jaal, may your arrows fly true,” Paraan whispered. She crossed her arms, folding her hands into the layers of her cloak.

The trapdoor dropped out from under Evfra’s feet and his body dropped with a jerk. Paraan felt a cry escape her lips. Her eyes watered, but she dare not wipe at the tears. She waited, seconds ticking by, until something whistled through the air and pierced the rope from which Evfra dangled. There was a loud  _ snap _ and Evfra crumpled to the ground. The crowd screamed. Sheriff Archon shouted, “What!” banging a fist on the railing.

Paraan drew the dagger from her cloak. She sprung at the guard, sinking the blade into his throat and slashing to the side. He cried out in a gurgling scream and sunk to the floor. Archon turned to see what she had done, wide-eyed. Paraan lunged at him and pressed the bloodied blade to his throat. Archon froze and she looked down at the chaos unfolding in the arena. Guards surged to get Evfra while Jaal and the other angaran stormed into the arena, bows drawn and trained on any kett in a uniform.

“All of your stop, or Archon dies!” she yelled.

Civilians streamed from the arena, pushing past kett and angaran alike. Evfra had disappeared from sight, but his rebels were everywhere.

“Do as she says,” Archon announced in his booming voice. More quietly, he added. “Well, Maid Meridian, what are your demands?”

“Evfra walks out of here alive. We all do.”

Archon growled. She could feel his muscles flexing against her grip, testing her resolve to hold him steady. “And what assurance do I have that you will not kill me?”

Paraan tightened her grip on the dagger. “You have no assurance.”

“Then we have no deal. Either your drop the knife, or I tell my guards to kill Evfra at all costs, even at the expense of having my throat slit.”

Paraan searched the arena below. She still could not see Evfra anywhere. The kett and angaran pointed their weapons warily at one another. She dropped the dagger, her hands shaking.

Archon pulled her hands off of him and turned around. He sneered down at her and brought a hand to her throat, clenching tightly. Paraan sputtered and clawed at his clenching fingers, trying to pry them loose. “You imbecile.” He lifted upward, clenching tighter, and each breath was a bit harder to take. Paraan gasped and gasped, but it made little difference. Her vision wavered and her head pounded. Archon’s bruising fingers closed tighter around her throat. Her hands dropped away from his grip. She could not focus well enough to fight back.

He jerked forward, hand going slack. Paraan finally sunk her fingers under his grip and pried herself loose. She dropped to the ground and gasped, coughing so hard her whole body shook. She craned her neck up, saw glittering metal piercing through the left side of Archon’s chest, blood trickling down from the wound. His breath came in rattling gasps, his arms dropped to his sides, and he stared wide-eyed at nothing, then toppled to the ground. The blue fletching of one of Evra’s arrows stuck out of his back.

Paraan picked up her dagger and scrambled to her feet. She rushed out from the box and down to the arena floor. Chaos had erupted again between Evfra’s men and the kett guard. Paraan stabbed a guard in the throat while he was preparing to cut down an angaran. She moved on, trying to avoid the other scuffles.  _ I just need to find Evfra _ .

She got to the platform and circled around the back of it. Evra sat on the ground, leaned up against a wooden beam. He clutched at a cut on his arm that bled freely. Next to him, a kett guard lay keeled over in the dirt, an arrow sticking out of his throat. “You idiot,” Paraan muttered, kneeling next to him. She tore at the cloth of her shirt, cutting with the dagger until she had hacked away the hem. “Move your hand.”

Slowly, Evfra pulled his blood-soaked hand away from the wound. Paraan bound the fabric around it and tied it off. “Jaal was only able to toss me a couple arrows,” he explained. “Used one on the sheriff. This man,” he nodded at the dead kett, “got too close by the time I loaded the second one. Slashed my arm open right as I took aim.”

“You’re lucky to be alive.” Paraan rested her hands on his shoulders to stop them from trembling.

Evfra smiled up at her. “I could say the same to you.”

Paraan laughed. Tears pressed at her eyes. She leaned down and kissed him on the lips. When she pulled away, she clasped his face in both hands and whispered, “Thank you for shooting that horrible man.”

Evfra chuckled weakly. “If I had any sense, I would have done it sooner.” He glanced around the arena. “I think the fighting is calming down.”

Paraan helped him to his feet and looked around as well. The kett appeared to be in retreat, possibly for more reinforcements. She did not know how many guards were stationed at nearby. “We should leave. We will have better chances against them in the forest.”

They stepped forward and Evfra grunted. “Agreed.”

Together, they managed to walk out of the arena. Little Jaal and the rest of the angara joined them. People were missing, and Paraan felt guilty for leaving their bodies behind, but they were going to travel slow enough as it was without extra weight. Little Jaal ran off to a nearby stables, then later overcame them with a horse and cart. He pulled the beast to a stop and smiled down at them from atop his perch. “Come on,” he said, reaching a hand down.

Together, they lifted Evfra into the back of the cart. Paraan climbed in and sat down on his right side, away from his injury. Evfra sighed and rested his head on her shoulder. “It has been a long day.”

Paraan laughed. “That is certainly one way to describe it.”

Evfra nodded against her and turned, looking at his arm. “I am concerned I might not be able to shoot as straight after this.”

Paraan sighed and looped an arm around his uninjured one. “Well, perhaps we will be lucky enough to not need those skills anymore.”

“It might be nice to finally be left alone in peace,” Evfra mumbled.

At the head of the cart, Little Jaal laughed. “Evfra, I have no doubt you will be at target practice within a week, and that we will need to restitch that wound shut at least three times.”

Evfra frowned, but Paraan smiled and kissed his forehead. “I think he might be right.”

“At the very least, I need to be able to hunt with some efficiency. How are you going to keep warm in the winter otherwise?”

“I know of some other ways you could help with that,” Paraan said. Evfra blushed and she chuckled. The road ahead to a free Aya would be difficult, but with Archon gone and the king returning from war, Paraan hoped that the days ahead would allow them some peace.


End file.
